Fresno State Athletics
Making the Grade
10/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Josh Mitchell
jomitchell@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - Mechanical engineering is not a typical major to fall into for a football player—only one other student-athlete on the Fresno State roster is an engineering major—but for Bulldog offensive tackle Justin Northern, that's how it happened for him.
When the fifth-year senior first started at Fresno State, he was a biology major with his eyes set on medical school. Although he got a B in his first class, midway through the semester he realized biology was not for him.
In high school, Northern's strengths were in math and physics, so he went on Google one day and searched for results of the two fields of study to see what types of professions were out there. Engineering came up. From there, he looked into majoring in mechanical engineering because of the broadness of professions he could go into. If it didn't work out, he figured he could always go into business.
"Math is just a puzzle to me," Northern said of the subject. "Some people look at it as a burden. Essays and reading are that to me. I love the challenge of math. It can be applied to real life applications with designing machinery, thermodynamics or energy systems."
Surprisingly, he was never a tinkerer like many people in his major. He was not mechanically inclined, working on things like cars for fun. He chose his path more for the math and how intrigued he is by what he is learning. Although he's applying for internships in various areas of the field, he likes the thought of working in energy. Construction, he said, is too up and down and he wants to be in an area with consistency, whether that means working with solar, green or with crude oil.
The thing he enjoys most about energy—thermodynamics.
Even though he hates flying, he gets excited just talking about aircraft engines "with turbo fins that operate at almost melting temperature." He wonders in amazement of how people thought to do that.
Northern's willingness to learn and analyze outcomes, and ability to absorb knowledge, has translated well to the football field. They are traits that many offensive linemen possess because of the many adjustments they need to make in games. They can also be a hindrance.
"When I first got here, one of his big problems was that he's so smart that he wanted to analyze everything," Fresno State offensive line coach Cameron Norcross said. "We had to take some of his analytical skills from the classroom and get rid of them on the field. There's too much information to process in a short amount of time in football. We had to tell him to quit thinking and just go. If you're wrong, we'll fix it."
Through hours of reps, film study and asking questions, Northern has been able to use his intelligence as an asset on the field.
"To him, he never has enough knowledge," Norcross said. "He's always asking pertinent questions. By learning what we do and understanding the defense, his process is the same now, but it's faster."
Starting on the offensive line for a Division I university, while also holding a 3.81 GPA in mechanical engineering, hasn't been easy. It has taken a lot of help from others on the academic side, particularly from Terence Wan, former Fresno State assistant director of student-athlete services, and Dr. Michael Jenkins, former Dean of the Lyles College of Engineering.
Northern gives Wan all the credit in him being able to stay on track with his classes. It's meant loading up his class schedule in the spring, taking classes during the summer and finding time to fit the right classes into the fall. Early on in his change to mechanical engineering, he recalls Wan even asking him if he wanted to choose the major or football.
Northern wanted both. The son of a marine who always preached to him, "don't use your hands, use your brains," Northern knows that education will take him far in life. Giving up on mechanical engineering wasn't an option for him.
He worked with Dr. Jenkins to see if it was possible to make playing football and staying in the major work. The former Dean of the department put together two tracks for Northern; one that would have him taking 16 units per semester and graduate two years, and another that would see him graduate at the end of his fifth year.
The second option allowed him to stay in the major while still playing football.
"When I got that plan [from Dr. Jenkins] I took it to Terence and said 'this is our Bible, we follow this and I'll get it done,'" Northern recalled.
In the engineering department, there is a track that has students take a group of classes one semester, and then another group the next semester. Northern says he's been all over the track due to his time commitments with football, but he has made it work. With his positive attitude, he believes that there is always a way to get things done.
"It is rocket science, but rocket science isn't what everybody makes it out to be," Northern joked about the degree of difficulty of his major.
This story was originally published in the Oct. 16 issue of Fresno State Gridiron, the official gameday program.
